Ryan Greene's seemingly unfair demotion

If we rewind the tape back to October and the end of Chicago Blackhawks training camp, Ryan Greene was ready to head to the Rockford IceHogs. Then, Landon Slaggert suffered an injury, which put Greene on the opening night roster against the Florida Panthers. The 22-year-old rookie has certainly made the most of this opportunity, playing in 69 of the Blackhawks’ 70 games, while spending a lot of time on the top line.

Anton Frondell’s Arrival Changes Things

While everyone is excited for the arrival of Anton Frondell, the third overall pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, Greene might get the short end of the stick. Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill said Frondell will be with a “good player” when he draws into the lineup, which could be as soon as tomorrow night. Frank Seravalli reported that the Blackhawks’ top prospect will play with Connor Bedard, while also getting a look at center.

So, that means the struggling Andre Burakovsky will finally come off the first line, right? RIGHT??? Well, not if you listen to Blashill’s postgame comments about Greene last night.

“He’s not chaotic in his game,” Blashill said. “His game’s pretty calm, and he’s pretty smart, so that helps him play with a guy like Connor, because he can read off him. He doesn’t have a lot of crazy moments. He just plays — I don’t want to say a simple game, but it’s simple enough. Yet he can make a pass and can make a good feed in those situations. He’s pretty good defensively. We’ll see where it goes.”

That’s a pretty good compliment from your head coach. However, in the next breath, Blashill said he wants to try Greene at center down the stretch, pretty much telling us that he will be the one coming off the Bedard line, and not Burakovsky.

Reward the Rookie

Greene’s career projection is a middle-six player. When all the top prospects are in Chicago, and if they hit their potential, Greene is your ideal third-line center of the future. He’s good at faceoffs, plays a responsible 200-foot game, has a high hockey IQ, and can chip in with some offense. But just because that is his likely spot down the road, he shouldn’t be demoted now. He’s been the better of Bedard’s two wingers and should be rewarded for that.

“I’m not trying to look too much into potentials and what’s going to happen down the road,” Greene said. “Those guys are unbelievable players, and whatever happens, happens. That’s all part of the job, right? It’s the best league in the world because there’s so much competition — and only the best players can play at the top. So I’ll do everything I can to stick where I am, but at the same time, try to help those guys when they come in.”

At 5-on-5, Greene is second on the team with 10 primary assists, and Burakovsky has five. The rookie has 21 points, one more than the 12-year veteran. He has produced more individual scoring chances (91-84) and high-danger chances (45-41). The most glaring stat is that Burakovsky has just two goals in the last 34 games and one assist in the last 27 games. All while almost exclusively playing on Bedard’s right wing. And yet, Blashill still defends him.

"We need production out of him,” he said. “We all get that, he gets that. Sometimes you don’t totally control that. I thought his effort has been great, and he played with confidence tonight. Sometimes...you can tell [a guy] doesn’t have confidence. He looks like he has confidence, but he’s certainly snake-bitten. I would say historically, if he keeps getting those chances, it’ll happen for him."

How long must we wait? Two goals in 33 games playing with Connor Bedard. Ryan Donato scored a career-high 31 goals last season while spending a lot of time with Bedard. The Blackhawks young star carried Philipp Kurashev to a 54-point season two years ago. So why can’t your $5.5 million, two-time Stanley Cup-winning winger produce with him? Burakovsky is not part of the long-term plan, so why is he cemented in one of the most important spots on the roster?

Blashill has done a really good job this season, but his stubbornness about Burakovsky is overshadowing a lot of the positive things he’s accomplished this season. Hopefully, Frondell and, eventually, Sacha Boisvert, will give us reasons to stop wringing our hands over this curious roster decision.